Excerpt: Volition

“Welcome to Rockland, Ms. Flanders. I am Jose Nakamura. I’ll be your transition agent. William Schneider, your psychiatrist, will be in soon.”
“Transition Agent?”
“Yes, to make your transition easier, we’ve prepared a video that we show all rescuees. Since you were not the target, we’re discussing options with the heads of state and will be with you soon. If you are hungry or thirsty there is food and water in the ice box at your feet.”
“Icebox. My grandma called a fridge—“ I stopped speaking. It really was an icebox— an old-fashioned icebox. “Real ice?”
“Do you have a problem with ice?”
He sat next to me and fiddled with the monitor buttons for a few seconds and then sat back with one of those UPS/laptop thingies in his lap. “What is that thing?”
“This?” He pointed a stylus at the contraption.
“Yes. It looks like one of those signature things the UPS and FEDEX guys have, but—“
“It’s a SLATE. I can connect to every computer network in the world from this.”
“Clever.” Before I could answer the question in Jose’s eyes, the video started.
To be honest, I didn’t pay much attention at first. It seemed to be some kind of propaganda thing. However, the longer it ran, the more I realized that I wasn’t dreaming, this wasn’t one of Sean’s jokes, and that what I was seeing was impossible. According to the screen, the year was 2125, I was in Rockland, and I’d been rescued from death in the past to live a full and rich life in the future.
“That’s obviously not applicable to you. They rescued the wrong woman with you. We’re reviewing the screens now to see how it happened,” the transition agent pointed out unnecessarily.
“What screens and why?”
“We’re comparing the screens of the past from Thursday with the screen from Sunday to see where the change happened.”
As I listened, I was amazed. If I could believe Jose, and I was sure I couldn’t, this company had permission from the world government to rescue women dying in the past. They’d gone for Jordan and gotten me. I knew how they’d gotten me but not how they hadn’t known about Jordan’s suicide. “How can you know all about Jordan, down to the bedroom she used, and not know that she attempted suicide tonight?”
“Tuesday night. You’ve been traveling since then,” Jose corrected as if I cared what day it was. “Once the rescue ship launches, they’re unable to see changes, but people make changes. It’s rare, but it’s happened.”
“So you’ve brought back the wrong person before?” I know the sarcasm was rude, but when you kidnap a woman, she’s bound to get a little testy after a while.
Unfortunately, the guy laughed. “No, it just usually means they’re not home. You were in Jordan’s room, so they took you.”
“Yeah, well a cat pooped on my bed. I wanted to sleep.”
He talked for half an hour about the options he thought they’d give me. I couldn’t believe half of what he said. My coming back in time instead of Jordan meant that my direct descendents didn’t exist anymore and new ones from Sean’s other marriage did. I simply couldn’t believe that I was embroiled in a time-warp fiasco. The things Jose told me were simply too fantastic to be believed. Even as I thought it, I realized that I was in denial.
"’We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality.’"
“What?”
I don’t know why I responded. By that point, I was growing exhausted with trying to understand the reality of my situation. “Ayn Rand. She’s brilliant. You should read her.”
“I’ll consider it.” Before he could say more, a green light flashed on the right of the screen. “They’re calling us. I suppose they want to interview you.”
I looked down at my fleece pajamas with the skiing snowmen on them and back at Jose. “Think I could maybe change my clothes?”
Jose leaned against the door and stared at me strangely. “You’re awfully calm. Very few women are this calm at this stage.”
“Why freak out over a weird dream?” I don’t think Jose appreciated my comment. He gave me that look, you know, the one that your mother gives you when you pretend you don’t know who ate the last cookie? That one.
“Denial—whatever you said about it, it applies here.”
“Evading reality and its consequences has nothing to do with my dream.”
Jose opened the door. “Do you fit into your roommate’s clothing?”
“Nope.”
“Then let’s go.”